Denton County officials engaged in a fact-finding discussion with members of the public to debate the fate of the Jackson Road railroad crossing south of Krum. Concerns have been raised about the safety of the crossing.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

Denton County commissioners are discussing whether to close the rail crossing on Jackson Road, improve the crossing to make it safer, or leave it as it is.

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The options on the table: Leave the railroad crossing open with no modifications, leave it open with modifications, or close it.

All in attendance from Krum were opposed to closing it.

“Safety is obviously a real concern for the county,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Andy Eads said. “By redirecting the traffic, are we redirecting them to other unsafe intersections? We want to be sure not to do that.”

The issue had been raised before he was elected. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway requested the county close the crossing due to vehicular incidents on the tracks, and the county has been evaluating its options since.

Part of the problem is the way Nail and Jackson roads intersect on the east side of the crossing, Eads said.

“We’ll definitely be re-evaluating the engineering on the east side of crossing to see if we could make some modifications to see if it would allow a safe crossing and open crossing,” he said. “It’s not a simple fix. It’s going to take some engineering, maybe some right of way acquisition.”

Robin Davis, Precinct 4 road and bridge project manager, said the Texas Department of Transportation and the railroad would be willing to share the costs. BNSF would pay a little more than $42,000 once permanent barricades are installed, and TxDOT would reimburse the county monthly for all actual costs up to $170,000.

Closing the crossing would create at least a 1.79-mile detour for drivers who travel Nail Road to U.S. Highway 380, to FM156 and north back to Jackson Road, Davis said.

Krum Fire Chief Ken Swindle, who attended last week’s Commissioners Court meeting along with several residents, said closing the crossing is “something we don’t need to happen.”

In smaller communities, trains sometimes stop and block major thoroughfares, Swindle said. The Jackson Road crossing is the closest alternative if the train blocks the crossing in downtown Krum.

Also, Swindle said if anyone developed the land by Jackson Road, closing the crossing would pose a challenge to emergency services to get access to any of the property there.

Eads said the discussion last week was the first step in a process, and it was productive.

“It brought up some good issues we will take into consideration,” he said. “We will develop a plan of action and move forward.”

BJ LEWIS can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is blewis@dentonrc.com .